Lady&#39;s handbag



- Sept. 8, 1964 5 KAHN LADYS HANDBAG Filed July 12, 1962 INVENTOR.

BY 57 0? M ATTORNEY United States Patent ""ce 3,147,787 LADYS HANDBAG Sheila Kahn, 1291 Coronet Drive, Baldwin, N .Y. Filed July 12, 1962, Ser. No. 209,360 2 Claims. (Cl. 150-29) The present invention relates generally to improvements in receptacles and it relates more particularly to improvements in handbags of the type permitting the ready assembly and disassembly of the bag member and frame member without the need of any special tools or skills.

In the conventional ladys handbag provided with a hinged frame, the fabrication of the bag member and its assembly with the frame are complicated procedures requiring the employment of bulky and expensive equipment. Since such equipment or any tools which may be even remotely substituted therefor is not found in the home or the home workshop, the production and assembly of ladys handbags are limited to properly equipped factories. However, it is frequently desirable to employ a handbag having a cover or bag member formed of a specific material thereby necessitating the custom production of the handbag, a procedure which is highly time consuming, expensive and inconvenient. Another drawback of the conventional hinged frame ladys handbag is the difliculty in cleaning the handbag by reason of the permanent assembly of the frame and bag members. There have been proposed and suggested many structures and arrangements for facilitating the separable assembly of a handbag frame and a body or cover member but these have possesed many disadvantages. They are relatively difficult to asemble and disassemble, are awkward and of unatractive apearance, are mechanically deficient and otherwise leave much to be desired.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved ladys handbag.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved ladys handbag which may be readily and simply assembled and disassembled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a ladys handbag having a hinged frame member and a bag member separably attachable to and removable from the frame member without the need of special tools or skills.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a ladys handbag of the above nature characterized by its attractive appearance, ease of a'ssembl yand ease of fabricating the bag member therefor.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a ladys handbag embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3--3 in FIGURE 1.

In a sense the present invention contemplates the provision of a handbag of the character described comprising a frame member including a pair of inverted substantially U-shaped frame sections, each having an upper cross bar and depending side legs provided with outer faces, the ends of the side legs of adjacent frame sections being hingedly connected, a bag member including front and rear walls, each of said wall-s being provided with a continuous tubular border along the upper and side edges thereof corresponding in configuration to said frame member sections, an integral inverted U-shaped coupling rod separably housed in each of said tubular borders, and

3,147,787 Patented Sept. 8, 1964 means for separably afiixing said coupling rods to the respective outer faces of said frame member sections whereby to sandwich the wall of said tubular border between respective of said of said coupling rods and said frame member section outer faces. Advantageously the bag member includes side wall defining gussets having medial recesses of the depth of the frame member, the tubular borders extending substantially to the base of the side wall recesses. The rod affixing means includes coupling ring members mounted on the outer faces of the frame member side legs adjacent the hinged ends thereof and the free ends of the coupling rods are threaded, and project beyond the tubular borders into engagement with the coupling rings and are releasably locked thereto by nuts engaging the threaded legs. Hook members are mounted on the outer faces of the frame cross bars and releasably engage the adjacent tube sheathed coupling rods.

Referring now to the drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reference numeral 10 generally designates the improved handbag which includes a frame member 11, a bag member 12 and a frame bag coupling arrangement 13. The frame member 11 consists of a pair of inverted U-shaped front and rear frame elements 14 and 16 respectively each being provided with a horizontal linear cross bar 15 terminating at their ends in depending side legs 17. It should be noted that the inverted U-shaped frame elements 14 and 16 need not possess linear cross bars 15 and side legs 17 but may assume other configurations, for example arcuate or otherwise curved shapes so long as the frame elements possess an overall inverted U-shape. The lower free ends of the side legs 17 are hinge connected by pins 18 which permit the opening and closing of the frame member 11 in the usual fashion. Mediall located on the top face of one of the frame cross bars 15 is a detent and on the top face of the other cross bar 15 is a spring closed latch member 20 of any well known construction which releasably engages the detent 19 when the frame member 11 is in closed position.

While the frame elements are illustrated as being formed of metal channels, they may be formed of other suitable materials and of other cross-section and are advantageously provided with flat planar outer faces 21 and 22 along the cross bars 15 and side legs 17 respectively. Affiored to the front faces 22 by welding or the like, adjacent to the hinged end of each of the frame legs 17, is a horizontal coupling ring 23 substantially perpendicular to the corresponding face 17. Medially located on each of the cross bars outer faces 21 and 22 and rigidly mounted thereon is a hook element 24 projecting perpendicularly from the faces 21 and 22 and having an upwardly directed opening.

The bag member 12 may be formed of any suitable flexible material such as woven or knitted fabrics, leather, non-fibrous plastic webs, for example, Saran or the like or other similar material. The bag 12 includes front and rear walls 26 and 27 respectively which may be of single ply or multiply construction and are provided with an inside lining, if desired, and are integrally formed or joined along their bottoms. Front and rear panels 28 and 29 respectively, extend inwardly from the side edges of the front and rear walls 26 and 27 and are joined or stitched together along vertical lines 30 to form gusset defining side walls, each having a medial recess 32 formed therein of substantially the depth of the frame member 11.

The upper edges of the bag front and rear walls 26 and 27 and the inner side edges of the side panels 28 and 29 bordering the recesses 32 are formed with a continuous tubular peripheral hem 33 which is formed by folding the corresponding borders of the Walls 26 and 27 and panels 28 and 29 inwardly and sewing the superimposed layers by peripheral lines of stitching 34 spaced from and paralleling said Wall and panel edges. The tubular hem 33 is uninterrupted along the length thereof and is of substantially the same configuration as the frame elements 14 and 16 and terminates at the ends of the side legs thereof in openings.

The coupling arrangement 13 includes a pair of inverted U-shaped bars 36 formed of wire, rod or the like and being of substantially the same configuration as the frame elements 14 and 16 and the tubular hems 33. Each of the bars 36 includes a cross-piece 37 and depending side legs 38 which are slightly greater in length than the side legs of the tubular hem 33 and which terminate in threaded shanks 39. In the assembled handbag, each of the coupling bars 36 is housed in and ensheathed by a corresponding tubular hem 33, the threaded shanks 39 projecting through the tubular hem end openings. The threaded shanks 39 register with corresponding coupling rings 23 and are releasably locked thereto by acorn nuts 4! engaging the threaded shanks 39. The sheathed crosspiece 37 of each coupling rod 36 is engaged by the hook member 24, the inside Walls of the tubular hem 33 being tightly sandwiched between the coupling rods 36 and the outside faces 21 and 22 of the frame elements 14 and 16.

In application, a bag pattern and instructions are provided with the frame member 11 and coupling arrangement 13 and the fabricator employing the pattern and following the instructions, fabricates the bag member 12 from any desired material. Thereafter a coupling bar 36 is threaded through each of the tubular hems 33 and the ensheathed bars are applied to the outside faces 21 and 22 of the frame elements 14 and 16 and into engagement with the hooks 24, the threaded shanks 39 being passed through the coupling rings 23. The assembly is then locked into position by applying the acorn nuts 40 to the threaded shanks 39. If it is desired to replace or wash the bag member 12, it may be readily removed from the frame member 11 by separating the acorn nuts 4-0 from the threaded shanks 39, removing the bag member 12 with the coupling bars 36 from the frame member 12, and thereafter removing the coupling bars 36 from the tubular hems 33.

While there have been described and illustrated preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is apparent that numerous alterations, omissions and additions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A handbag of the character described comprising a frame member including a pair of inverted substantially U-shaped frame elements each having an upper cross bar and depending side legs provided with outer faces, the ends of the side legs of adjacent frame elements being hingedly connected, a bag member including front and rear walls, each of said walls being provided with a continuous tubular border along the upper and side edges thereof corresponding in configuration to said frame elements, an integral inverted U-shaped coupling bar separably housed in each of said tubular borders and terminating in transversely enlarged coupling sections, coupling elements mounted on said outer faces of said frame elements adjacent the hinged ends of the side legs thereof and releasably engaging the free ends of said coupling rods directly above said coupling sections to restrict the upward movement thereof, and an upwardly directed hook member mounted on the outer face of each of said frame member cross-bars and separably engaging a border-sheathed cross-bar of a corresponding coupling bar.

2. The handbag of said claim 1 wherein said coupling elements are defined by rings and the free ends of said coupling bars are threaded and slightly register with the said rings, and said coupling sections are defined by nuts engaging the threaded ends of said bars projecting through said rings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,537,210 Wood May 12,1925 

1. A HANDBAG OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING A FRAME MEMBER INCLUDING A PAIR OF INVERTED SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED FRAME ELEMENTS EACH HAVING AN UPPER CROSS BAR AND DEPENDING SIDE LEGS PROVIDED WITH OUTER FACES, THE ENDS OF THE SIDE LEGS OF ADJACENT FRAME ELEMENTS BEING HINGEDLY CONNECTED, A BAG MEMBER INCLUDING FRONT AND REAR WALLS, EACH OF SAID WALLS BEING PROVIDED WITH A CONTINUOUS TUBULAR BORDER ALONG THE UPPER AND SIDE EDGES THEREOF CORRESPONDING IN CONFIGURATION TO SAID FRAME ELEMENTS, AN INTEGRAL INVERTED U-SHAPED COUPLING BAR SEPARABLY HOUSED IN EACH OF SAID TUBULAR BORDERS AND TERMINATING IN TRANSVERSELY ENLARGED COUPLING SECTIONS, COUPLING ELEMENTS MOUNTED ON SAID OUTER FACES OF SAID FRAME ELEMENTS ADJACENT THE HINGED ENDS OF THE SIDE LEGS THEREOF AND RELEASABLY ENGAGING THE FREE ENDS OF SAID COUPLING RODS DIRECTLY ABOVE SAID COUPLING SECTIONS TO RESTRICT THE UPWARD MOVEMENT THEREOF, AND AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED HOOK MEMBER MOUNTED ON THE OUTER FACE OF EACH OF SAID FRAME MEMBER CROSS-BARS AND SEPARABLY ENGAGING A BORDER-SHEATHED CROSS-BAR OF A CORRESPONDING COUPLING BAR. 